Friday, March 02, 2007

The first words out of your mouth frame the entire customer experience.

Consider these two facts:

1. According to The Wall Street Journal from February 17th, 2006, you have less than five seconds to make a first impression.

2. According to a 2007 report on www.hotelexecutive.com, your greeting influences the customer’s perception more than any other act of engagement.

That’s how powerful your first words are.

With that in mind, let’s explore three ways to master the welcome so you can go from GREET to GREAT.

Phone GreetingsAaron Jaslow, editor of the networking/marketing publication RainToday, shares a great example. “A family friend once founded a company called Quack Quack Productions. Needless to say, he picked up the phone every day and said, ‘Quack, Quack!’ I would have paid money to work there and answer the phones like that.”

Is your phone greeting that good?

So unique that complete strangers would call just to hear it?

So unique that people would want to work there just to use it?

GO FROM GREET TO GREAT: be unique and unforgettable in less than eight words.

Voicemail GreetingsSo you miss a few calls. Big deal. You can still leverage your voicemail as an effective branding and service tool.

Callers love it. What’s more, they engage. Clients and prospects alike will go on for minutes. They share movie-related stories, favorites and preferences on a daily basis. What a great technique to get to know your callers!

Is your voicemail that good?

So good that your callers don’t want to hang up?

So good that it helps you learn customer preferences?

FROM GREET TO GREAT: rerecord your voicemail with a question.

Front Door GreetingsIn the retail world, greetings are GOLD. As a former furniture salesman, I can attest to that!

Here’s an exercise: think about your store. Make a list called “Top Ten Most Common Greetings Customers Expect to Hear.”

Then make sure NOBODY uses any of them.

FACT: the most effective way to capture customers’ attention is to break their patterns.

The store at which I sold furniture was nuts. City Liquidators had three floors of couches, coffee and craziness. So, I would approach customers as they walked in the door and say, “Welcome to the circus!”